Lo Bosworth is a busy woman. The former reality star is now a bonafide entrepreneur, with a podcast, blog, and YouTube channel to her name. She has also recently partnered with Hillshire Snacking, a line of curated small plates and meat and cheese pairings for snacking on the go — or just making a charcuterie platter look effortless in a matter of seconds.
We chatted with Bosworth to get her tips on the best way to make everything from dinner parties that wow to easy meals for one, a little easier and a lot better.
When you're throwing a party or setting a scene for a dinner, do you have easy ways to make things look way more impressive than they really are?
I have always taken a tip from the movie Clueless, when she has her date coming over and she decides she has to create a lighting concept. I set the scene by dimming the lights and lighting candles, and that’s a really easy way to make your home feel really warm and inviting without putting up any decorations.
I have always taken a tip from the movie Clueless, when she has her date coming over and she decides she has to create a lighting concept. I set the scene by dimming the lights and lighting candles, and that’s a really easy way to make your home feel really warm and inviting without putting up any decorations.
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The other thing I do is quick bodega flowers. Truly, a couple bouquets of tulips placed in specific places around the house can make a difference. Make sure you put a couple flowers in the bathroom as a little special touch, put some next to the bar where people are drinking. it’s really easy, small things that really make a party really beautiful and sophisticated. I don’t ever really go far beyond that. I think also you can try to use things you have around your house — your own wine glasses, your own plates, your own clothe napkins, instead of using things that are disposable. It makes people feel really welcome in your home.
And how do you decide what to serve to the guests?
For cocktails, I tend to put everything out and people are happy, more often than not, to make their own drinks.
For cocktails, I tend to put everything out and people are happy, more often than not, to make their own drinks.
If its a situation where its just appetizers, I like to focus an assortment of things but try to focus on a nice portion for everyone to have. When there are cocktails involved, you want to make sur start everyone has enough food. So i always kind of approach it from that standpoint. I tend to choose a balance between sweet and savory flavors generally when I’m doing appetizers. So I like to do beef cuts or pork cuts with some kind of cheese and some vegetables on the side. The Hillshire Snacking small plates are great for that because everybody gets their own small plate and there’s a variety of flavors. They make a great snack for summer. But I definitely don’t ever sacrifice flavor or quality when it comes to choosing food for a party.
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What about when its just you, say on a busy weekday? How do you make dinner easier?
I went to culinary school, and they enforced a lot of practice about food prep, so I generally do a lot of prep with fruits and vegetables at the beginning of the week. I always have a lot of stuff that’s already chopped up and ready, so any dish is really quick [after that].
I went to culinary school, and they enforced a lot of practice about food prep, so I generally do a lot of prep with fruits and vegetables at the beginning of the week. I always have a lot of stuff that’s already chopped up and ready, so any dish is really quick [after that].
Mise en place is the first thing we learned in culinary school. It means everything in its place. So basically, when you’re actually cooking you don’t have to worry about chopping onions or measuring an ingredients. I find that most people mess up when they have forgotten something. When you have everything already ready to go, it makes cooking so much easier, so much more focused, and it takes a lot of the pain and time out of it.
What ingredients do you always keep in your fridge?
I always have whole Greek yogurt — I use that as a sour cream substitute all the time. I always have a lot of fresh herbs that are sitting in water to keep their freshness [and] chopped green onions ready to go because I like to add them into everything, I cook primarily with ghee instead of with a lot of different kinds of oils. I always have cauliflower, because I use cauliflower as a gluten substitute. I make tortilla out of cauliflower, I make pizza crusts out of cauliflower. It's a great way to avoid things that are made from flour so that people who are intolerant can always come and eat at my house quite happily.
I always have whole Greek yogurt — I use that as a sour cream substitute all the time. I always have a lot of fresh herbs that are sitting in water to keep their freshness [and] chopped green onions ready to go because I like to add them into everything, I cook primarily with ghee instead of with a lot of different kinds of oils. I always have cauliflower, because I use cauliflower as a gluten substitute. I make tortilla out of cauliflower, I make pizza crusts out of cauliflower. It's a great way to avoid things that are made from flour so that people who are intolerant can always come and eat at my house quite happily.
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What's your favorite gadget in the kitchen?
My Vitamix, hands down, for sure!
My Vitamix, hands down, for sure!
What do you use it for besides smoothies?
Oh god, everything. My favorite thing to do is to puree a sauce. So if I have a sauce going and I have some vegetables that are in the sauce, I like to take everything, put it in the Vitamix, and turn it into a vegetable puree.
Oh god, everything. My favorite thing to do is to puree a sauce. So if I have a sauce going and I have some vegetables that are in the sauce, I like to take everything, put it in the Vitamix, and turn it into a vegetable puree.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.